$16,000 raised for burned boys
GLENVAR – What looked like an ordinary yard sale was really a community rallying to help two badly burned boys.
The giant yard sale at the Fort Lewis Fire Department in Glenvar on Sept. 17 was a way of reaching out to provide comfort for Cole and Mason Anderson, who are undergoing skin grafts and other treatment in a North Carolina hospital.
Bargain hunters dig through clothing at the Sept. 17 giant yard sale to raise money for two young brothers who were badly burned. Brian Hoffman photo
The yard sale raised $16,000, said Kim Lovelace, one of the parents who helped with the bake sale at the event.
Keith and Anita Anderson’s boys were burned while playing outside at the family’s home on McDaniel Drive. Their father, who was in the house, said the boys evidently had been trying to start a fire with wet wood in the fire pit in the back yard.
They added gasoline, and the backlash burned Cole, 10, and Mason, 8. Younger brother, Dawson, 6, who was not injured, ran inside to get help.
Their mother updates their journal on CaringBridge.org every chance she gets while they are at Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Andrianna Hall shows a newfound treasure to Khana Nguyen at the Anderson Benefit Yard Sale.
On Sept. 20 she wrote surgery the day before for Mason, who was burned on his hands and arms as well as his legs, went fine, even though he was in a lot of pain. She is learning when to push the pump that administers pain medication.
Cole’s next surgery was set for Wednesday. Their dad returned home this week to provide some normalcy for Dawson, she wrote.
Both parents took off time from their jobs in order to be with their sons in the hospital.
Last week they had skin graft surgery on their legs.
Another fund raiser, a corn hole tournament, was held on Tuesday this week at Potsey Joe’s restaurant in Salem.
